Christmas 2016...it was a good one! John and I traveled 'back home' to NC to visit with our family and friends. When we are home it seems like we never left...except when we see how big our nieces and nephew have gotten!

In addition to all the holiday happenings and partaking in way too much food (I was under the impression that the calories didn't count on vacation...) I also kept up with my daily artin', worked on a TOP SECRET TEXTILE PROJECT with my best friend's mom (more will be revealed in 2017!)...and...well, I had a lil' pop up art show!

A little background...last December was my first time setting up a 'Pop Up' show while home for Christmas. It was a huge success and so much fun...click here to view the post I wrote about it- with pics, of course!

I faced a mini-challenge up front as the pieces are gouache on paper...so...to frame or not to frame...? Normally- I would opt to frame. I just prepped and hung 60 pieces for my retrospective show (IT'S STILL UP TIL JANUARY 7TH! CLICK HERE FOR INFO!) so to put it mildly, 'I ain't afraid to frame.' But...that adds cost...and stress...and to logistics of traveling all over creation...so I made the decision to go with white mats and clear plastic sleeves. This allowed me to literally walk in with one crate with my art and table easels and a bag of ornaments from last December. (Each purchase came with a free ornament!) Also, by opting to not 'frame' the work I was able to keep the costs for the pieces down. The market back home is different from South Florida. I mean...it's kind of fancy, but not like South Florida fancy and I really wanted folks to be able to leave with a piece of my heART.

That being said- another big success! Family and friends and new folks came out to view (and purchase!) my work and I left with significantly lighter load to carry to the car! I have been meaning to sit and mark off my inventory which pieces sold, and I will...just...not right now. I have been relaxing a bit this last part of 2016.

Anyway, here are some pics from my show. THANK YOU so much to everyone that came out to support me, and of course a SPECIAL THANKS to the O'Mahoneys, owners of the Bell Tree Tavern....and of course I am hoping that they will have me back again for another pop up!

I just updated the #AngelDropART page on my web site! This has been a huge task but I wanted to tackle it this week- and I did! There is some background info on this side project/passion and four slide shows to show some of the 1014 angels 'dropped' all over the country from 2013-2016. Click on the link and check it out!

...so many angels...so much more time to create MORE angels and leave'em all around!

I am so excited to share the news that I have another pop up art show back home in NC later this month! Hooray! This is my second time having a show while I am home for Christmas and I can't wait! Here are some details;

I am always doing shows down here in south Florida and my friends and family back home only get to see pics via the interwebs. I had the idea to have a 'pop up' show last year and it was a huge success! Long time family friends Con and Betty O'Mahoney, over at the Bell Tree Tavern, gave me an area to show works from my #NovemberBlueJLG series and it was a great fit! I brought home the entire series of 12x12 inch canvas paintings I had been creating and placed them around the seating area for folks to see. So many family and friends (some I had not seen in years!) made it out to view my work. I actually sold over half of the series, which is awesome...but more importantly some of the folks I love most in this world were able to see my heART.

Here are a just a couple of photos from last year's show, click on the image to visit the blog post with more pics!

(Left) Betty, Con, my father in law Raffaele and Aunt Sandra at my show (Middle) Marketing from the FB Event page (Right) Extra special guests...my momma, sister Morgan and niece Savannah

This show is not only a chance for me to share some of my 'red dresses' with my festive NC friends and fam...but it is also meaningful for me because this is the last monthly series in my five-year commitment to making a piece of art every single day. Don't worry, I ain't quittin' any time soon...but it is definitely something I want to celebrate and reflect on as I look to 2017, and who better to do that with than the folks 'back home'.

Notes about the show...come as you are. Don't worry about getting fancy. I mean...ya'll know I will be fancy, but that's a given. (ladies, if you do have a red dress tho...) This is a bar/restaurant, so you can make dinner drinking plans before/after. And lastly, YES, work WILL be available for purchase. I am doing one set price again for the event, all works will be $40 each. Last year I brought the whole series. This year I am not planning on bringing everything due to framing costs...so if there is a piece you want....I'm just sayin'...If you see a piece from the #LadyInRedJLG series that you would like to purchase in advance contact me and you can pay in advance and pick it up the night of the event. (Seriously, a few pieces were kinda battled over last year!)

I am sure I will add more info a little closer to the date but for now- NC folks please mark your calendars! I sure hope you can make it to my show! And thank you again Con and Betty for supporting my heART!

Well, I think I have figured it out. It takes a rainy day in South Florida to make me stay at home, plant myself in 'the pink chair' and work on my web site and various social media platforms. I spent about four hours last night working on my web site, stayed up til 3am and then woke up at 6am (per usual), treated myself to breakfast and then got right back to work.

But wait! I saw Santa this morning at my breakfast spot, and he remembered me! Check out the pics below if you don't believe me;

Lil' me with Santa over 35 years ago...and today at breakfast. (Cue 'Reunited and it feels so good')

I am pretty happy with the updates to the web site. I am by no means knowledgable with web design, but I have been using Weebly for many years and it is pretty easy to figure out. I updated my 'theme' and I like the layout, wanted to offer a 'cleaner' look to my site...well...as tidy as I can make it with all my artistic chaos! (and thanks again Jessie Prugh for the new head shots, I put 'em to use!)

New FB page header and image for my home page...thank you, Jessie!!!

​Besides the overall 'look' of the site, I updated images and info in the 'About' section, added a slideshow to the top of the blog from my IG account, added some info about how to buy work from me on my 'Shop' page, worked on my 'teaching' page, which I renamed 'Studio 2-110'. I was trying to decided if I wanted to write the page more for my students or for other teachers...but truthfully I am not going to worry about it, just gonna post info relavant to teaching and folks can figure it out. (I am still working this page today, so links will be on and off-line til I finish) I did make a free web for my LWHS Fashion Club, it is linked to the teaching page, you can also view it below;

Super excited about creating an on-line space for my fashion clubbers! Check back for updates!

In the past I have done a better job keeping my web site updated. At first I would post almost every day...then I noticed that when I started using IG more I posted less to my web, probably because I was slowly documenting the narrative of my art in pic posts and short descriptions...so I blogged a little less. This year, I have been blogging less AND I haven't been that great about posting the daily work to my Gallery and FB albums, again- I think it's because I am showing the work on IG, so I slack off on posting the final image. This is something that I would like to work on for 2017, keeping things more up to date.

Also areas that I want to work on...working on my #AngelDropART page. I have almost 1000 drops to date (maybe more, I need to count!!) But...I need to get it all in one location on my web site. Another major area that I need to work on...ummm...sales. I focus on making the work, selling is always secondary...but selling more work sure would be nice! I want to work on adding images to my POD service, right now I use Fine Art America. I also am looking into getting back into Etsy. I can't get it all done at once, but these are all on my to-do list.

Oh...and I am up to date on my #LadyInRedJLG series, yay! I am ten images into the series...and it is changing a little as I go. At first the dresses were on a body...then I switched to a dress form. All of the dresses are still red, gouache on paper. I am thinking that I want to start adding more details in the dresses, maybe a little bling...if you know me then, well...then you KNOW. I am planning on keeping the series the same size right now. That is one consideration that I always make- the size of the work. This decision is often based on travel plans and events for that month, although was crazy back in April 2014 and created acrylic paintings even while traveling to Nashville, TN!

Here are the first ten images in the series...kinda fun to see them as a group! Oh...and stay tuned for another art event announcement, then one of for my people 'back home'!

A day late and a dollar short...but the new series theme for December is 'Lady in Red'. I wanted to do a cool intro and really 'roll out' the last series in my five years of every day artin' (don't worry, I won't be stopping!) but...I was too busy with birthday and art opening festivities and a surprise out of town friend from back home...so...something had to give. Yup, it was the series intro.

Side note, in 2017 I want to get back to being more dedicated to my blog posts. I think I might be the only one that reads them, but it is my documentation through all of this art makin' and I know in my heart it is important to do...so I have publically written that I want to make that a goal for 2017, wish me luck!

I decided to create red dresses this month for a variety of reasons. The main reason is when I think of the holidays, specifically Christmas, I think about the color red. I think about gals looking for that perfect red dress for a party or event. I also wanted to end the year doing something that I adore- fashion illustration. Right now, the images are starting off gouache on paper, 8x10...but that may change as the series progresses. I am also just creating my own designs for the dresses at the moment, at some point I may reference red dresses by designers I adore...again, all of this is up in the air.

Also...working on a possible show 'back home' specifcally for this series and to close out 2016...stay tuned.

THANK YOU to everyone that came out for the opening! It was great to see friends and family, and to meet new folks. This was THE BEST birthday to date.

That being said...wow. it feels great to have my work showing in this venue. If you are just now coming across my crazy world of art here is a synopsis;

"Hi, my name is Jenny and I made a piece of art every day from January 2012 to December 2016 and that is what this show documents."

I will reflect more on this whole experience in a future blog post (like...at the end of December when I am closing in on 1827 consecutive days of daily artwork) But this show represents the past five years of my life- my commitment to making time for my art. I selected one piece from each monthly series from the past 60 months to hang in this five-year retrospective show.

So...here are some pics from the opening;

I filled this whole gallery!

Another fun thing from the opening- I made my own jewelry featuring pics of the work in the show! Our cousins from NC gave me an awesome bag of vintage jewelry bits and pieces back in October, so repaired some broken chain necklaces and used those treasures to add some sparkle...then filled small metal pendants with my images that I reduced down to a teeny tiny size. I even made a jingly jangly bracelet to go with it! Kind of cool- I wore my art to my art show! Ha!

DIY statement necklace and bangle/charm bracelets...'cause I am so EXTRA!

Pretty much all of the work is available for purchase, so if you visit the show and see a piece you are interested in you can contact Daniel Dominique in the box office, or contact me via my web, FB or IG. And keep in mind, for each piece that you see there is a whole month's worth of work that go along with it. For real.

Below are the images that are included in the show. I will be adding more specific pricing info from the list given to the gallery, hopefully this week. For now, I just wanted to get this post up and include the images of the work in case someone was interested in a piece, and just so folks far away can 'see' the show.